Ida Helen Ray Graham passed away peacefully on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018, at Atwood Personal Care Home.
Visitation is from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 14, at Jordan Funeral Home. Funeral services are at noon, Wednesday, Feb. 14, in the Jordan Funeral Home Chapel, with burial to follow at Carson Ridge Cemetery near Ethel.
Pallbearers are Brian Albin, Craig Graham, Jason Graham, Matt Graham, Frank Criswell, and Jimmy Shipp. Honorary pallbearers are Lynn Graham, Sage Graham, Jerry Henley, Jimmy Pruitt, Morris Massey, and Arthur Sartain.
Helen was born Sept. 7, 1929, in the Lobutcha Community of Winston County. She became a believer in Jesus Christ and accepted Him as her personal Savior in her youth. At the age of 16, she met the love of her life, James C. Graham. They were married on Christmas Day 1946 and celebrated 70 years of marriage the day before James died in 2016. Helen dearly loved her husband and her family which included four children, Grady (Frances) of Starkville, Marvin (Gail) of Ethel, Mary Ann Albin of Jackson, and James C. Graham, Jr. (deceased); eight grandchildren, Lynn Graham, Marsha Pollard, Brian Albin, Craig Graham, Jason Graham, Cynthia Shirley, Ashley Graham, and Matthew Graham; 14 great grandchildren; two sisters, Frances Adcock and Margie O’Briant; and a host of nieces and nephews.
Helen and her husband were faithful to their church, Carson Ridge Baptist, and served in many roles providing leadership to both the church and its members. Her love for her family was beyond measure. She was a wonderful homemaker and even though she never worked outside the home, she supported her husband and family in providing delicious home cooked meals, gardening and storing both frozen and canned goods, sewing clothes for herself and family members and making beautiful patchwork quilts. She was also a caretaker of her mother and was always taking meals to people in the community who needed such. She also loved deer hunting and in addition to participating in the hunt, she always had a meal prepared on the table for all the hunters who loved to hunt together. Helen loved being a homemaker. She loved being a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She loved caring for others and often did for others before she thought of her own needs. She truly demonstrated her love in so many ways that it is beyond comprehension.
Those preceding her in death were her husband, James C. Graham, Sr.; son, James C. Graham, Jr.; son-in-law, David Thomas Albin, III; parents, Henry Grady Ray and Sally McCool Ray; brothers, Harvey Ray, Moody Ray, and Garvin Ray; sisters, Mavis Ray, Venia Ray, Sadie Cascio, Opal Bain, Thelma Rasberry, Ellen Steed, and Mary Lou Vowell.
The family would like to thank the staff of Atwood Personal Care Home for their exceptional care and compassion.
